A Night Full of Suprises
by miss mcGonagle
Summary: Remus and Sirius share a dance at the Hogwarts Graduation Ball...but it's just a joke between friends, right? RemusSirius oneshot. Also JamesLily and surprise ship.


**Disclaimer: Not mine. No, Remus is not mine...he belongs to Sirius and vice versa. So there.**

**Another Hideaway contest entry...I was going to write the Dark Fic, but then I had this idea and it would not let me go. So I wrote fluff. Happy Sprinks? I hope so. So here it is, please leave a little review and let me know what you think!**

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It was the night of the Graduation Ball, an event enjoyed by staff and student alike as the Seventh year Hogwarts students celebrated their impending graduation with their friends and the professors were given a less formal way to say goodbye to those they had taught for so long. It was a big event, usually planned by the Head Girls and Boys from each house, and all the younger students wished and prayed to be asked to go as a date. This year's theme was muggle dress, much to the chagrin of the Slytherin students and those of other houses who stuck up their noses at such an idea. But four of the eight Head students were muggle born, and all insisted that it would be a fabulous idea. And so the two Slytherins and one Ravenclaw on the committee were forced to go along with the suggestion. James Potter, pureblood Head Boy for Gryffindor, was so smitten with the girl who had suggested this idea that he would have gone along with anything.

The dress code said muggle formal, though several students, mostly Slytherins, defied that order and arrived in their dress robes instead. But no one argued with them, as most of the teachers had decided against muggle clothing as well. Almost all of the students had eagerly ordered suits and dresses from the muggle catalogues delivered to the castle by order of the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. He of course, was thrilled with the idea and had ordered a tuxedo complete with tails and a top hat, though once he received this package he decided the black suit was far too somber and promptly made it turquoise.

The evening began with a special dinner at round tables scattered around the Great Hall. The students laughed and talked happily about their new clothes, the decorations, and of course, their dates. James Potter was the happiest man alive as he walked through the doors of the Great Hall with his new girlfriend, Lily Evans and he defied his friends to even suggest that there was a more beautiful girl in the room. Sirius Black of course took up this challenge and promptly asked Professor McGonagall for a dance, but she declined in favor of the Headmaster and Sirius was left to the mockery of his friends.

The ball was a brilliant success, the food was enjoyed, toasts were made, and when the dancing began at nine o'clock, it promised to continue well into the next morning.

James and Lily were just one of the many couples enjoying their time together on the dance floor, and Peter Pettigrew had an equally wonderful time next to the dessert table. Sirius Black danced with nearly every girl in the room, save Lily Evans and Minerva McGonagall, but he soon tired of this and went in search of someone more interesting than the blond Hufflepuff currently hanging on his arm. He was looking for one person in particular, Remus Lupin.

Remus was watching the dancers and pensively sipping a glass of wine, taking advantage of the one night of the year when the teachers actually permitted the students of age to consume alcohol in school. He did not hear Sirius sneak up behind him and choked on his wine when the other young man slung an arm around his shoulders and yelled a greeting.

"Hey there, Moony!"

Remus glared at Sirius and pulled his wand from the pocket of his new muggle suit so that he could remove the red wine from his shirtfront.

After Lily had proposed the idea of the muggle ball, James had been so eager to support her idea that he ordered muggle suits for himself and his three friends. Lily was impressed by this show of generosity and Remus, Sirius and Peter each received a new suit, whether they wanted it or not. Remus's suit was dark gray with a white dress shirt and a black silk tie and he liked it well enough; his mother was a muggle and so he had grown up wearing his share of suits, though this was by far the nicest he had ever owned.

Sirius had been given a black suit with a white shirt. He too had been gifted a tie, but he ripped it off shortly after Lily had tied it for him and threw it away, preferring to leave the top two buttons of his shirt undone. Naturally, he looked stunning.

"So, Remus, my good pal," Sirius continued, oblivious to his friend's glare, "what have you been up to? Snogged any hot girls?"

Remus snorted and decided to ignore that comment.

"Come on, Remus," Sirius persisted. "Why aren't you out there dancing? Goodness knows you would do a better job of it than Prongs. It's rather embarrassing, isn't it?"

He watched the miserable dancing technique of James Potter dispassionately. Remus smiled.

"It is a little sad, I admit. But you know I don't dance to fast music."

"This is a slow song, Remus."

Remus was aware of this and he was also well aware that Sirius had not removed his arm from around his shoulders. It was a dangerous situation.

"There isn't anyone out there that I would want to dance with," Remus mumbled at last.

"Then dance with me."

Sirius was joking, and Remus shrugged off his arm and shook his head, attempting to keep the joke going to prevent Sirius from seeing the longing on his face.

"You'd probably step on my feet."

Sirius pretended to pout and gave his best pleading look; one Remus had never been able to ignore.

Remus gave in and let himself be pulled to a secluded corner of the room behind the orchestra where they were hidden from view. Amazingly enough, none of the hormonal couples seemed to have discovered this place yet and Remus and Sirius had the place to themselves. The wizard rock band had taken a break and now a small orchestra was playing slow, romantic music to the delight of all the girls in the room. Remus would not admit it to Sirius, but this was more to his taste as well.

Once the two were behind the curtains, shielded from the rest of the party, Sirius bowed formally and grabbed one of Remus's hands in his own and placing his other hand on the werewolf's lower back as if Remus were the female partner in the dance. Remus pretended to be flattered and made swooning noises that made Sirius laugh. But as the music continued to play, the two young men grew quiet and simply danced.

Sirius had never danced with another guy before, except for perhaps a brief tango with James in the common room, but that was all in jest. This was a real dance. Remus too, was unused to this experience, but he let himself enjoy it; it was not often that he was this close to Sirius.

Remus could smell the musky shampoo the taller Gryffindor used, and the sweet soap he bathed with. There was a trace of dog hair in his scent, and something else purely Sirius that Remus detected as he inhaled. The two had unconsciously drawn closer to one another and Sirius had rested his head against Remus's before he was aware of what he was doing. He tensed when he realized what he had done, but Remus said nothing and so Sirius let himself relax and enjoy the strange sensation of dancing with another man; not just any man, he told himself, Remus Lupin, his best friend.

Remus felt Sirius rest his head against his own and said nothing, letting himself pretend that this was normal, that this was real, that Sirius felt just as happy, just as content as Remus did at that moment. He let himself pretend that Sirius loved him back.

Sirius felt Remus's breath against his chest and reminded himself that this was all just a joke; that the two of them dancing together in a private corner of the Great Hall was not the single happiest moment of his seventeen years. Even though it was. He stared down at the pale skin on Remus's neck and at the raised lines just under his hairline; scars from all the transformations from man to wolf that Remus had suffered alone before he was able share his troubles with his friends. Sirius felt an overwhelming need to touch these scars, to remove all of his friend's painful memories, to sooth all the hurt away. Before he could tell himself otherwise, Sirius had pressed his lips to one of the scars.

Remus felt Sirius's lips against his skin and froze in place. He had carefully kept his thoughts and daydreams away from this scenario and yet it was actually happening and Remus could not dare to understand why.

When Remus stopped moving to the music, Sirius realized the folly of what he had done and jerked himself away from the other young man, surprise and mortification spread across his handsome features. Remus looked up at Sirius and smiled sadly, knowing it had been a mistake, that the brief flicker of hope in his heart had been mislead. Sirius was still playing his game and whatever had lead him to kiss the werewolf's neck was certainly not love, or lust, or anything Remus had unwillingly hoped it had been.

Sirius stared at his friend and wondered how on earth he could explain himself.

"Remus, I...I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." he his words trailed away at the bitter smile on the face of Remus Lupin.

"I know you didn't mean to, Sirius," Remus whispered. "You never do."

Sirius was momentarily distracted from his own slip up.

"I never do what?" he demanded, completely at a loss for what Remus meant by those words.

Remus sighed and calmly prepared himself for the end of a beautiful friendship.

"You never mean to get my hopes up, but you always do. You never mean to break my heart, but you always do."

Sirius gaped at Remus.

"Break your h...Remus?" Sirius watched in horror as a tear slid down Remus's pale cheek.

Before he could think about his actions, Sirius placed both hands behind Remus's head and pulled the other man's face to his, and kissed away the tear. Remus was too shocked to move and he stared at Sirius in disbelief.

"I've never meant to hurt you, Remus," Sirius whispered, Remus's face still inches from his own. "I just want to take all your pain away...I just want to love you."

Remus was still too amazed to say anything, but he noticed how uncomfortable Sirius seemed to be after confessing his feelings. Remus placed his hands on the other man's chest and gripped the coat lapels, pulled himself closer, and kissed Sirius on the lips. Remus had only planned on a gentle kiss to comfort Sirius and reassure himself that he was not dreaming, but Sirius held him closely and kissed Remus hungrily.

When the kiss ended, Sirius started to step away, but Remus pulled him back into an embrace and they stood like that for a few moments, both young men content and willing to remain like that forever. They were startled from one another's arms by a loud banging as the rock band returned to the stage and the drummer began his solo. Sirius and Remus looked at one another and grinned sheepishly. Remus reached a hand up to brush away some dark hair from his love's face and let his fingers linger and trace his strong cheekbones and then his lips. Sirius nipped as the fingertips brushed across his lips and Remus smiled.

"I love you, Sirius Black," Remus whispered, the first time he had ever spoken those words aloud.

Sirius grinned.

"Good."

The two were sharing a second kiss when they were startled apart again by the sound of a woman's voice and a giggle.

"Whoops! Looks like someone found the special place you charmed for us."

"Come on Mona love, we'll find some place else.'

Remus whipped around, but the source of the two voices had disappeared.

"Was that...Sprout, and Flitwick?" Sirius asked in a choked voice.

Remus chuckled.

"I think it was."

"Well this certainly has been a night full of surprises," Sirius announced. "I mean, who knew those two were an item? And who knew I would look so damn good in a muggle suit?"

Remus laughed and shook his head at his friend, his love, his everything. Sirius grinned and winked.

"Well, it seems a waste to just abandon this lovely space when dear Flitty spent so much time on it," Sirius whispered suggestively, "why don't we hide out a little longer?"

Remus pretended to consider this for a moment.

"You know, Sirius...I think that is a brilliant idea."

Sirius was about to point out that, being his idea, it could be nothing less than brilliant, but Sirius could not do two things at once, so he settled on kissing Remus instead.

The End 


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